The Coming of Evil: Sekhmet
by justsomeboy
Summary: Pg-13 for language. How Sekhmet came to be under the Dynasty's power.


I do not own. WAH! *Caith runs on* Now look what you've done! You made her cry!  
  
Naotoki - Sekhmet - Naaza  
Jirougorou - Dais - Rajura  
Toshitada - Anubis - Shuten  
Kujuurou - Cale - Anubis  
  
Those are names.  
  
Please R&R! If I get enough reviews I'll finish the series, including the Ronins in my little escapade.  
  
  
Yamanouchi Naotoki lived in the underground tunnels beneath his 'father's' home; a winding labyrinth that would confuse any stranger who dared to enter it. Only Naotoki knew which tunnel lead to where, which lead to the outside; although he didn't dare leave. Yamanouchi Akira might kill his illegitimate son if he tried to escape that dark prison he had lived in since he had proved he could take care of himself.  
The demon child; the son of a snake. Or perhaps just cursed. Large eyes, lidded a soft violet, no eyebrows, thin lips, a long, narrow face; deep green hair shot through with blonde. He hated himself, hated his father, his mother - the Gods, for cursing him so.  
Living in darkness his whole life, his large eyes and scent-sensitive tongue came in use often, to hunt down food when no servant came to give him a daily meal, so he wouldn't starve in his underground prison.  
He knew no one knew of this place besides the man who claimed to be his father and a few select servants. So, when he heard soft noises passing through the tunnels, and a scent he did not know, he fled to a small chamber he slept in, laying in the soft hay he had gotten from a slave for a bed, barely daring to breathe as he heard screams from above his head; women and men. The servants?  
Suddenly, the makeshift door on his little haven was broken off the hinges, and he cowered as a large figure stood in the doorway, holding a shielded lantern.  
Then the light was uncovered, and he screamed in pain as all went black.  
~*~  
When Naotoki woke up again, he was on a real bed - covers, pillows; he would have felt warm and safe, were it not for the unfamiliar scents floating around the room.   
Putting a hand to his head, he felt his eyes were bandaged over, protecting them from the light that had made him shriek in pain.  
"You're awake."  
His head swung toward the voice, cracking his neck. A man. The voice laughed.  
"Are you so suspicious?"  
Naotoki didn't speak; he wasn't sure who this man was - of he said anything they didn't want to hear, he might get killed.  
"Can you speak?"  
Naotoki nodded, lying back down on the coverlet.  
"Will you speak?"  
He sat still, unsure what to say.  
"What is your name, young one?"  
He supposed he could answer that.  
"Y.. Yamanouchi N..Naotoki."  
He said it slowly, pronouncing every letter and sylable gently, like a child. He couldn't speak, read, or write very well, only what he heard from upstairs and what Caia had taught him. He felt a stab of pain spear through him. What had happened to Caia when they were attacked?  
"Naotoki, ne?"  
The young man nodded.  
"How old are you?"  
Naotoki thought about this a moment. He had to be over fifteen, because that was the last time his father had given him anything; a pendent worn by his mother. Or at least that was what he had said.   
"I'm... Older then.. F.. Fifteen."  
The man said something in a language he did not understand, and then a soft tug at the bandage around his eyes. He gripped them, afraid of the light he would be exposed to, the pain it would cause.  
"I've dimmed the lights. You'll be fine."  
Dimmed? What was that?  
"Dimmed?"  
He repeated.  
"Turned them down. The light won't hurt now."  
Noatoki sat up, doubtful, but not seeing any other options. He felt the cloth fall away, and flinched at the kiss of cool air on his wet, clammy skin. The other man laughed softly.  
"So what they said was true. You are a demon, ne?"  
Naotoki flinched, shying away from the other persons presence. Yes, he knew he was a freak, wasn't that enough?  
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You are not all that inhuman. They exaggerated a little, I suppose. You have no scales, anyway."  
This last sentence was said in amusement as a hand ran through his greeny-blonde hair, and he reached to hit it away, but the other man caught his fist and held it fast.  
"You need to get up and dressed. Your clothes are on your chair by your bed, when you wish to open your eyes and see the light of day."  
Naotoki just nodded miserably and sat until he heard a door open and close. Then he slowly, oh so slowly, opened his eyes.   
The light was dim, as the man had said. He was draped in forest green blankets on a four poster bed. The cool was cool, but not overly so - and there were his clothes on the chair, just as the man had said. He reached for them, pulling on his coarse linen shirt. It smelled clean; someone had washed it. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, appalled that his feet barely touched the floor - he knew he was short, but he wasn't that short; Caia had said that the halls in his home were about five feet and thee inches tall; he had started hitting them last year.  
Ruefully, he pulled on his pants and soft leather shoes, smiling at the feeling of something on his feet.  
"You dressed?"  
It was the man from before.  
"Yes."  
He walked in.  
Naotoki gasped.  
He was tall, taller then even he was; with soft white hair that fell to his shoulders and hung in his eyes. One eye - the left - was covered by a patch. He smiled a little at Naotoki, before saying,  
"I'm Kuroda Jirougorou."  
Naotoki's eyes went wide at the difficult name.  
"Jirou... Jirou..."  
Jirougorou smiled and said,  
"You can call Me Jirou, Naotoki."  
Naotoki laughed and smiled weakly. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it smelled like trouble.  
"Ok."  
Jirougorou, as if sensing the shorter boy's anxiety, said,  
"Come, I have some people I'd like you to meet."  
Naotoki nodded, and followed Jirougorou out of the door and into a wide hallway. He noticed that there were three other doors; one on the same side as his, the other two on the opposite side.  
Out of one of the opposite doors, two young men walked out. One with long red hair, being guided by another you man with deep blue hair and a scar on his left eye. Naotoki shrunk away and closed his eyes as they came near them, holding a bright lantern that hurt his eyes.  
"Kujuurou, turn down the lantern, you're going to blind him."  
Jirougorou said harshly. Almost immediately the light dimmed, and he opened his eyes to their full size, looking at the other two men.  
They were as tall as he was - only they seemed better built. They were probably more healthy, he supposed.  
"So this is the new recruit, ne? What's your name, young one?"  
Kujuurou asked.  
"Yamanouchi Naotoki."  
"I'm Sasaki Kujuurou, this is Koma Toshitada"  
Toshitada bowed slightly while Naotoki stood still, confused. Was this an above-grounders tradition or something? He mimicked the bow, albeit a little awkwardly. Toshitada smiled brilliantly, showing off his white teeth while Kujuurou frowned, but let it alone. Jirougorou cleared his throat and waved his hand for the other men to follow him.  
They followed his footsteps to a large door, which he shoved open before grabbing Naotoki's hand and pulling him in. Naotoki panicked as soon as they walked in; something in this room smelt, tasted, felt evil. He wanted to get away from it as soon as possible. And, from the looks of it, so did Toshitada. The young redhead was squirming in Kujuurou's grip, looking very scared.  
Then he saw it.   
A large head, suspended in thin air. His large eyes got very wide and he tried to pull away from Jirougorou, with no avail; the older boy had a good grip on his skinny arm. Then the head spoke.  
//These are to be my new Ma Sho? //  
"Hai, Arago-sama."  
Naotoki locked eyes with Toshitada, and both knew that they were in a lot of trouble.  
~*~  
Jirougorou dragged Naotoki forward, now holding both arms behind the young man's back to keep him still. Naotoki fought, trying to get loose. The evil was getting stronger the closer he got to Arago.  
//Do not resist me, little one. You will be my Doku Ma Sho."  
"No!"  
This... This thing wanted to control him? An unknown spark of rebellion swelled in Naotoki. No one owned him; no one had the right to use him.  
//Really, Yamanouchi Naotoki? You are already mine, by standing there, arguing with me. You are feeling my evil slip into your veins like poison, and by defying me, the evil in yourself is growing.//  
"NO!"  
Naotoki denied, still fighting Jirougorou's grip. His eyes suddenly went narrow, and he pulled Jirougorou's hand to his mouth, biting it with fangs he didn't know he had.  
Jirougorou yelped in pain, so surprised that he let go of the smaller man. Naotoki motioned to Toshitada, who knocked Kujuurou in the face before taking off with Naotoki out the still open door, unsure of where they were going; unsure how to get out.  
~*~  
They collapsed some time later, in a hallway they didn't recognize. Curling into a corner of an indent in the hall, Toshitada turned to Naotoki.  
"Why... What was that all about?"  
Naotoki noticed that the young man's eyes were green.  
"I not ... know."  
Toshitada squinted in the dark hallway, trying to see Naotoki's face. He ended up falling into Naotoki's lap. The green-haired boy giggled for a second, before helping Toshitada sit up quietly.  
"Do you speak very well?"  
Naotoki shook his head.  
"No."  
"Why?"  
Naotoki thought hard for the words he could use to describe his prison.  
"I... I live under... h-house, and not come... out?"  
Naotoki said, unsure if he had said what he meant.  
"Oh, I see."  
Toshitada took one of Naotoki's hands, gripping it in fear and a shiver ran up the redhead's spine. This was too strange. Why would that... Thing want them?  
They heard a sound coming from down the hall, and each cringed closer to the other in fear. They gripped at one another's clothes in terror, leaning their heads against one another, not sure if they were going to live through this encounter.  
Toshitada spoke first.  
"Naotoki?" A whisper.  
"Yes?"  
Toshitada took a breath, and said,  
"If... If I die..."  
"Yes?"  
"Go to Kyoto, and tell my sister, will you? Her name is Koma Akimi."  
"I will."  
Thinking again of Caia, and something she did when he was frightened or scared, Naotoki kissed gently the top of Toshitada's red hair, hugging him clumsily. Toshitada hugged him back, and Naotoki felt moisture on his hands.  
Toshitada was crying?  
"D-Don't cry, Toshitada-kun, we'll ...be ok."  
Toshitada just turned his face into Naotoki's chest to try and muffle the sound of his soft sobbing, gripping at Naotoki like he was his last line to life. And Naotoki gripped him back, scared to death, but unable to cry.  
"I'm... scared, Naotoki-kun..."  
Naotoki bit his lip and tried not to panic. Toshitada was a mess - terrified and unable to be of an help. He had to find a way out of here!  
Then, he thought of something.  
Sticking out the very tip of his tongue, he searched for the scent of the outside.  
There.  
Coming from down the hallway and to his left.  
Standing, he hefted Toshitada into his arms and started off as quietly as he could.  
"Naotoki?"  
"I can get ...us... out."  
He followed the scents he caught on his tongue until he reached a small door. Putting the now calm Toshitada down, he turned the knob.  
~*~  
Outside air flew into his face, and he rushed out the door, pulling Toshitada with him - But the other young man wasn't moving. Terrified, he turned -   
Toshitada was being held fast by Jirougorou and Kujuurou. The redhead screamed at him,  
"Run, Naotoki, you fool! RUN!"  
Naotoki looked like a rabbit caught by a tiger for a moment, before turning on his heels and running as fast as he could into the dark woods.  
~*~  
"Master..."  
//You have failed me, Jirougorou!//  
"No... He somehow got away... But we still have the Koma boy."  
//Bring him to me...//  
~*~  
A year later...  
  
Naotoki walked back to his small hut in the woods, seeing and smelling his way in the dark. He had been living here for about a year, hunting and fishing and generally being left alone; learning about poisons. He had developed a certain fascination with poison, it intrigued him. He often tested them on mice and rats, seeing reactions and how fast the poison worked through their bodies. He kept all this information mentally filed, seeing as he couldn't write much.  
He drew the plants, to remember what they were. He gave them silly names, to remember which was which.  
Other then that, he was just a young hermit, living alone in the woods.  
Smiling a smile that bared his fangs, he walked back into his home, thinking sadly about Toshitada, wondering what had befallen the young man. He had drawn him once; a surprisingly good reproduction of his face. But now it lay under a stack of poison pictures, he didn't want to disturb it.  
Then he noticed something off about his house.  
It was wrong- evil. Like that room, just under a year ago. Then -   
He gasped and struggled as a strong person held him from behind, twisting his arms and knocking him down to have him kneel on the floor, looking up at an armored figure that had appeared out of the shadows.  
"Yamanouchi Naotoki. It's been nearly a year since I last saw you in person."  
His eyes widened in fear as he recognized that voice.  
Sasaki Kujuurou.  
That meant the person behind him had to be Jirougorou.  
"Wrong, Naotoki."  
A soft whisper in his ear. Fear shooting up his spine. No. No no no no no no NO!  
"Yes."  
Naotoki ceased struggling as Jirougorou appeared in front of him. Fear and denial laced his eyes as he turned his head slightly to face a fall of red hair.  
"Hello, Naotoki."  
Naotoki's eyes closed against the threatening tears. So this was what had happened to Toshitada, ne? He had joined these... Masho. That had been what Arago had called them, right?  
The red head blinked; why did this boy seem so familiar? Jirougorou and Kujuurou had said that he had never met the young man before - why did he seem so known to him?   
A flash in his mind - a soft kiss in his red hair and a clumsy hug.  
"Shuten, take our young ward to Arago, will you? We will clean out the home."  
"Very well, Rajura. Will Anubis be coming with me?"  
"No, he will stay. We will see you when we get back."  
"Very well."  
Naotoki listened half-heartedly. This was all too much.  
He was yanked to his feet by Toshitada - no, no, his name now was Shuten - his head jerked back by a hand in his hair.  
He looked fearfully into Shuten's green eyes, wanting to cry at what he saw there - nothing. Blank nothingness in eyes set in a cruel face. No memory of a brotherhood forged in fear, no memory of his sister, his life before... Nothing.  
"Let's go, Naotoki."  
The young man watched dazedly as a portal was opened, lined by red lightening, and he was drawn through it.  
~*~   
Shuten watched coldly as he threw Naotoki to the ground, hearing a satisfying snap as the young man's wrist was broken, and a soft yelp of pain.  
He felt a ripple run through his mind and Arago appeared, smiling demonically at the now kneeling Naotoki, who was holding his broken, bleeding wrist.  
//So, we meet again, Yamanouchi Naotoki.//  
The green haired boy didn't respond, only looked up ay Shuten's master with eyes full of pure hate.  
//You don't answer me?//  
"You are not worth answering."  
Shuten watched as a flash of green lightening flew down Naotoki's throat, crackling and burning. Naotoki screamed agony; and the red-headed Masho found that he enjoyed the sound. To Shuten, there was nothing more beautiful then the screams of someone in pain. He needed them like he needed air.  
//You still defy me!//  
"I will always defy you!"  
Naotoki was lifted into the air by a ghostly hand gripping him around the throat, choking for breath that couldn't pass through his abused throat.  
//You will be min, Yamanouchi Naotoki. Just as your mother was mine.//  
Naotoki ceased his struggling, staring at Arago as though he was Satan himself.   
"What?"   
He managed to choke out.   
The it hit him. Memories, flashes, people, places he did not know, seeing through another's eyes things that were dear to them,. It could only be his mother.   
//Yes, these are the memories of your foolish mother, boy. Snake-woman.//  
He saw her. She was beautiful. Long, deep green hair and soft, narrow eyes. Sharp, white teeth and a forked tongue. She fell in love with his father; came to him by night, bore him a child. When she found Arago was going to kill her for loving a human man, she gave him to his father, begging him to protect him. So, he though dazedly, that was why his father couldn't stand to see him. He reminded his father of his mother. He saw her die, her throat cut by an inhuman blade.  
"No..."  
Shuten watched as Naotoki was tortured until tears ran down his face, until Anubis and Rajura came up behind him.  
"Come. Arago will fix him."  
Anubis said.   
But Shuten couldn't help but hear Naotoki scream,   
"Toshitada! Help me! Toshitada!"   
~*~  
The three Masho sat, eating quietly, listening to Naotoki's sobbing and screaming from below them.  
Shuten spoke.  
"Who's Toshitada?"  
Anubis choked while Rajura gasped. Unlike Shuten, they had been allowed to keep their memories.  
"No one,"  
Rajura covered.  
"He thought you were someone else."  
But, as he went to sleep, Shuten couldn't help but wonder who it was Naotoki was screaming about.  
~*~  
The next morning, after a dreamless sleep, Shuten and the other two Masho were summoned to Arago's hall. They went, grumbling about how early it was.  
They opened the door to see Naotoki standing there, blank eyes and a hateful expression on his narrow face. He wore deep green sub-armor that nearly matched his hair.  
//This is my Doku Masho, Naaza.//  
Naaza bowed elegantly.  
Shuten had another flash.  
* A fifteen year old boy, bowing clumsily-*  
The Oni Masho shook his head and looked at Nao- No. He wasn't Naotoki, the innocent, rebellious boy they had captured. He was the Poison Demon General, Naaza.  
"Hello."  
"Hello."  
Anubis and Rajura said nothing, but watched as.. Naaza... Walked briskly past them, not even acknowledge their presence.  
And so, Doku Masho Naaza was thrust into the world, poisoning it with his venomous presence. 


End file.
